JACKSON, MISS. -- His focus is singular while he works, the job site being about as close as nature comes to replicating the inside of a stove that's been set at 400 degrees a couple of hours.

"This is what I get paid to do, " Charles Grant said. "When you're in training camp, nothing else matters but football. That's the only thing I'm focused on right now. I barely talk to my mom when I'm here. I probably talk to her one time when I'm here. There's a lot that doesn't even exist in this world besides football when you're here."

CHUCK COOK / THE TIMES-PICAYUNECharles Grant is focusing on football while at training camp.

But there's a lot that does exist away from Millsaps College, and there's no way Grant could be faulted if he struggled to block it out, if he failed to keep his eye on the football.

Yes, playing defensive end is what he's paid to do -- what he's paid really, really, really well to do. But surviving the heat as a Saint these days has to be a lot easier than dealing with the heat that's dominating the rest of his life, the aspect for which pads and helmets don't protect and shield.

In 17 days, on Aug. 15, Grant is expected to plead not guilty in Early County, Ga., to the charge of involuntary manslaughter. His longtime friend, Laquient Macklin, is charged with felony murder and feticide for allegedly firing the bullet that killed Korynda Reed, a pregnant bystander, during a nightclub fight in February.

Grant, who was indicted in May on that charge and on the misdemeanor charge of affray, has said he wasn't a willing participant or instigator in the fight. He was stabbed in the back of the neck during the fracas, and his attorney said Grant didn't have, or fire, a gun that night.

But that night -- and what happened during it -- will follow him until the case is resolved and, probably, for a while after.

Grant never has minimized the tragedy. A woman and fetus died, and Grant only has expressed sympathy to the family for the loss. But the fact is, someone is going to have to answer for the killing, and Grant's door is one the prosecutor is knocking on.

That's a lot to deal with, even with football available to help tunnel the vision.

"I'm doing good, " Grant said when asked how he was holding up. "All of us are doing good. It's a blessing. God is good all the time."

And, if nothing else, he certainly looks the part.

After posting his worst statistical season since becoming a full-time starter in 2003, his second year in the NFL, Grant lost almost 30 pounds this offseason. He reportedly played on an injured ankle from midseason on in 2007, when he failed to force or recover a fumble for the first time, tied a career low with 2 1/2 sacks and missed the first two games of his career.

"It's not hard, " he said of keeping off the weight. "This is what I love to do, play football. And if it's going to add five, six more years to my career, why not do it? I've got family to take care of, my kids, and I want to make sure they're happy.

"By me shedding that weight, it helped my ankle injury out. All that weight isn't on it anymore; I'm just playing football."

Now, he figures to play it to the level he hoped to attain in the 2007 season, prior to which he signed a seven-year contract extension worth as much as $63 million, making him the highest-paid defensive lineman in team history at the time.

"I want to be the best, " Grant said. "There's nothing else. When Coach Has (Jim Haslett) and (General Manager) Mickey (Loomis) drafted me, they drafted a player to go out and be the best. I want to be the best, and being the best means being in top shape, going out there and doing what's right and helping the guys on this football team have a chance to win a Super Bowl."

That'll be the easy part.

But no matter how singular is his focus -- and great athletes often become great athletes due, in part, to their ability to compartmentalize -- there remains the matter of a shooting, a stabbing, a death, a plea of innocent and, possibly, a criminal trial.

And after that, there could be a civil trial.

Defending himself in those arenas probably will take more than Grant ever has given of himself on a field. It's a given, and understandable, if it takes away some of his focus from it.

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John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3410.